Travel Tip: Art and Archaeology in United StatesWinslow Homer’s Civil War

In conjunction with the Maine Civil War Trail, a series of special displays at more than 20 museums and historical societies around the state commemorating the sesquicentennial of the conflict, the Portland Museum of Art presents an exhibition of Winslow Homer’s wood-engravings drawn from its permanent collection.

Winslow Homer first gained national recognition for images of the Civil War that he produced for the popular magazine Harper’s Weekly. As an artist-correspondent “embedded” with Union troops, he made several trips to the Virginia front. Based on this first-hand experience, Homer took an unconventional approach to representing war. Instead of depicting battle scenes according to the heroizing pictorial formulae of the genre, he humanized the conflict with pictures that examined soldiers’ daily life in camp and the war’s impact on women and the home front. This exhibition showcases Homer’s unique vision of modern warfare and keen eye for social commentary.